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TAKE 5:
New Attitudes,
Old Projects
Leon Acord, Los Angeles
CARVING A NEW ROAD
Mar. 5-11, 2009
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As Carved in Stone approaches its June 5 opening at Theatre Asylum on Theatre Row in Hollywood, I'm taking each step cautiously. Getting this show to L.A. has been an intense roller-coaster ride. When Quentin Crisp died, in 1999, I called my great friend and frequent collaborator, the hilarious, brilliant San Francisco theatre wunderkind Jeffrey Hartgraves. "Write me something so I can play Quentin," I said. And he did: a hilarious romp with Quentin, Oscar Wilde, Tennessee Williams, and Truman Capote sharing digs in the hereafter. After a very well-received reading, we produced it ourselves at Eureka Theatre in San Francisco in 2002. It seemed blessed from the beginning: a critical and box-office success.
I moved to L.A. in 2004. Jeffrey and I continued emailing several times a day and often discussed bringing the show here. But adapting to life in L.A. demanded almost all my focus at first. Then, Jeffrey's persistent sore back was diagnosed as bone cancer. I worked through shock, then fear, and realized there was no time to waste. I wanted desperately to give Jeffrey his L.A. debut. But as Jeffrey was "previously occupied," I needed help. Company of Angels Theatre invited me to join, and I began work on a scaled-down "members' production." We got a director and cast the show — just as Company of Angels lost its lease.
Hmm. If we produced it ourselves before, maybe we could again. Our director, cast, and a shaky Jeffrey headed to the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood for an ultimately less-than-stellar staged reading. Afterward, feeling our director was a mismatch, Jeffrey asked to release him. Back to square one. Then Jeffrey's health took a bad turn.
So then I talked my way into Celebration Theatre. Though ours is not, technically, a "gay show," the gay-oriented Celebration seemed a perfect match. Alas, I couldn't get anyone to read the script. Frustrated, I organized a reading in the company's rehearsal room. This time the feedback was terrific. New cast members Jesse Merlin and Levi Damione practically insisted we give producing it another shot. Serendipitously, I was then interviewed by a Quentin Crisp fan site while producing and hosting a San Francisco fundraiser to help pay Jeffrey's medical expenses. It was a perfect storm: folks' enthusiasm from the reading, coupled with my joy and nostalgia at working with Jeffrey again, topped by renewed interest in the show generated by the interview. Then Jeffrey's cancer went into remission. My resolve was set.
A table read with our revised cast was amazing. Though still in pain, Jeffrey felt strong enough to relocate to L.A. temporarily to direct. We began preproduction, scheduled a staged reading, and held a photo shoot with Jeffrey and the cast. I contacted Matthew Quinn, Theatre Asylum's artistic director, who agreed to co-produce. Then, on Sept. 25, Jeffrey died in his sleep.
I still can't imagine doing it now. But the cast and his friends believe presenting his work is the best tribute. And they're right. Jeffrey's script is filled with his specific zany-yet-intellectual humor. His voice is so unique; he truly lives within his wonderful words. But I still feel a bit like a widower, wistfully checking into the hotel where I spent a wonderful honeymoon.
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